Compressor

ABSTRACT

A compressor designed to discharge a refrigerant compressed in the compressor to the outside through a cylinder head and a discharge muffler. The compressor is designed to prevent heat of a refrigerant passing through a discharge chamber and the discharge muffler in the cylinder head from being transferred to a compressing chamber, thereby enhancing efficiency of the compressor. The compressor includes the discharge chamber to contain temporarily a refrigerant compressed in a compressing chamber, and a heat-radiating member to radiate heat from the discharge chamber to the outside.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-46195, filed on Jun. 21, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

An apparatus consistent with the present invention relates to a compressor and, more particularly, to a compressor designed to discharge a refrigerant compressed in the compressor to the outside through a cylinder head and a discharge muffler.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a compressor is a component for a freezing cycle, which generates conditioned air by circulating a refrigerant in an air conditioner or a freezer, and has a function to compress the refrigerant with high temperature and pressure, and to discharge a compressed refrigerant.

One type of such a compressor is a linear compressor, which will be described as one example of a conventional compressor hereinafter. The linear compressor 1 forces a piston to linearly reciprocate by means of a linear motor, which is driven by virtue of cooperation of magnetic members generating a magnetic flux subjected to a directional variation. Referring to FIG. 1, the linear compressor 1 is provided with various components, which can be broadly classified into a compressing part to intake the refrigerant from a closed container 14 and to discharge the refrigerant after compressing the refrigerant, and a driving part to provide a compressing force to the compressing part.

The compressing part is provided with a cylindrical cylinder block 9 having a compressing chamber 9 a defined therein, and with a rod-shaped piston 11 equipped in the compressing chamber 9 a of the cylinder block 9 to linearly reciprocate up and down within the compressing chamber 9 a. Under the cylinder block 9, the compressing part is further provided with a cylinder head 10 having an intake chamber 10 b to intake the refrigerant into the compressing chamber 9 a and a discharge chamber 10 a to discharge the compressed refrigerant to the outside. Additionally, a discharge muffler 12 is equipped at one side of the cylinder head 10 under the cylinder block 9, for reducing noise due to refrigerant discharge from the discharge chamber 10 a.

The driving part is provided with a stator 13 and a mover 3, between which an electromagnetic force is generated to reciprocate the piston 11 within the cylinder block 9. As the piston 11 is reciprocated within the cylinder block 9, the refrigerant is compressed to a high temperature and pressure, and the compressed refrigerant is then discharged to the outside, through a tube 12 a provided to the discharge muffler 12, after passing through the discharge chamber 10 a and the discharge muffler 12.

However, the conventional compressor has a problem in that, when passing through the discharge chamber 10 a and the discharge muffler 12, heat is transferred from the refrigerant of the high temperature and pressure to the compressing chamber 9 a through the cylinder head 10 and the cylinder block 9, thereby lowering efficiency of the compressor 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention overcome the above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present invention is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problems described above.

The present invention has been made in view of the above and other problems, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide a compressor designed to prevent heat of a refrigerant passing through a discharge chamber and a discharge muffler in a cylinder head from being transferred to a compressing chamber, thereby enhancing efficiency of the compressor.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Consistent with the present invention, these and/or other aspects are accomplished by providing a compressor comprising a discharge chamber to contain temporarily a refrigerant compressed in a compressing chamber, and a heat-radiating member to radiate heat from the discharge chamber to the outside.

The heat-radiating member may have one end submerged to oil flowing in the compressor.

The heat-radiating member may be a heat-radiating fin made of a metallic material.

The compressing chamber may be defined in a space between a cylinder block and a piston received in the cylinder block, and the discharge chamber may be defined in a cylinder head disposed on the cylinder block.

The heat-radiating member may be provided to the cylinder head.

The cylinder head may be provided with a discharge muffler to prevent noise from the compressing chamber from being transmitted to the outside.

The discharge muffler may be formed therein with a fluid pathway communicated with the discharge chamber via a refrigerant pathway.

The discharge muffler may be spaced a predetermined distance from the cylinder block.

The cylinder head and the discharge muffler may be integrally formed.

Moreover, a compressor is provided which comprises a cylinder block including a compressing chamber, a cylinder head disposed on the cylinder block and including a discharge chamber which communicates with the compressing chamber, and a discharge muffler provided to the cylinder head and which communicates with the discharge chamber, the discharge muffler being spaced apart from the cylinder block, such that heat of the discharge muffler is not directly transmitted to the cylinder block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional compressor;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a compressor consistent with the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a lower portion of the compressor consistent with the present invention, showing a refrigerant flowing within the compressor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE, NON-LIMITING EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the drawings. In the exemplary embodiment, a linear compressor will be explained as one example of a compressor.

Referring to FIG. 2, a linear compressor 20 according to the present invention comprises a closed container 24, a compressing part to intake a refrigerant from the closed container 24 and to discharge the refrigerant after compressing the refrigerant, and a driving part to provide a compressing force to the compressing part.

The compressing part is provided with a cylindrical cylinder block 29 having a compressing chamber 29 a defined therein, and with a rod-shaped piston 31 equipped in the compressing chamber 29 a of the cylinder block 29 to linearly reciprocate up and down within the compressing chamber 9 a. The cylinder block 29 is supported by a support spring 25.

A cylinder head 30 with an intake chamber 30 b defined therein to intake the refrigerant into the compressing chamber 29 a and with a discharge chamber 30 a defined therein to discharge the compressed refrigerant to the outside is equipped at the lower side of the cylinder block 29. Additionally, the cylinder head 30 is provided, under a lower surface thereof, with at least one heat-radiating fin 36 extending into oil flowing on the bottom of the closed container 24. The heat-radiating fin 36 is made of a metallic material in order to enhance heat exchange efficiency, and a plurality of heat-radiating fins may be provided under the lower surface of the cylinder head 30. A valve assembly 34 is equipped between the cylinder head 30 and the cylinder block 29, and has an intake valve 34 a and a discharge valve 34 b opened/closed in a predetermined direction, guiding the refrigerant to constantly flow in a predetermined direction (see FIG. 3).

Furthermore, the cylinder head 30 is provided, at one side thereof, with a discharge muffler 39, and at the other side thereof with an intake muffler 38 coupled thereto.

For this purpose, a muffler cover 39 b is fastened to one side of the cylinder head 30. Furthermore, a refrigerant pathway 37 is formed between the discharge chamber 30 a and the interior of the discharge muffler 39 to communicate between the discharge chamber 30 a and the discharge muffler 39. Noise from the compressing chamber 29 a is removed while passing through a fluid pathway defined in the discharge muffler 39. A tube 39 a is extended from the discharge muffler 39 to the outside of the compressor 20 to guide the compressed refrigerant passing through the discharge muffler 39 to the outside of the compressor 20. The discharge muffler 39 is integrally formed with the cylinder head 30, and the discharge muffler 39 and the cylinder head may, for example, be made of aluminum. The discharge muffler 39 is spaced a predetermined distance from the cylinder block 29.

The driving part is provided with a stator 32 and a mover 23, between which an electromagnetic force is generated to reciprocate the piston 31 within the cylinder block 29.

The stator 32 includes an outside core 32 a having a coil 35 equipped therein so that, when an electric power of a predetermined frequency is applied to the coil 35, a magnetic flux is changed according to the electric power, and an inside core 32 b at a position corresponding to the outside core 32 a within the mover 23. The stator 32 is securely supported by means of a holding frame 33 and the cylinder block 29.

The mover 23 has a cylindrical shape with a closed upper side, and is equipped at the lower side thereof with a ring-shaped permanent magnet 28 in a space between the outside core 32 a and the inside core 32 b to generate an electromagnetic force between the stator 32 and the mover 23. A piston 31 is fixed at an upper end thereof to the center of an upper portion of the mover 23, reciprocates along with the mover 23.

A plate spring 22 is fastened to the upper portion of the mover 23 by a bolt 23 a while passing through the mover 23. The plate spring 22 has the center thereof fixed to the mover 23, and a periphery fixed to the upper end of the holding frame 33.

Operation of the compressor having such a configuration as described above will now be described with reference to FIG. 3.

First, when the piston 31 is moved upward by virtue of cooperation of the stator 32 and the mover 23, a refrigerant induced into the compressor 20 passes through the intake muffler 38, and is then guided into the intake chamber 30 b of the cylinder head 30. The refrigerant guided into the intake chamber 30 b passes through the intake valve 34 a of the valve assembly 34, and is then guided into the compressing chamber 29 a.

Then, when the piston 31 is moved downward by virtue of the cooperation of the stator 32 and the mover 23, the refrigerant in the compressing chamber 29 a is compressed and then discharged to the discharge chamber 30 a after passing through the discharge valve 34 b of the valve assembly 34.

The high temperature, and high pressure refrigerant discharged into the discharge chamber 30 a is induced through the refrigerant pathway 37 formed in the cylinder head 30 to the fluid pathway in the discharge muffler 39, and is then discharged to the outside through the tube 39 a provided in the discharge muffler 39.

At this time, since the discharge muffler 39 through which the high temperature, and high pressure refrigerant passes is provided to the cylinder head 30 rather than to the cylinder block 29, the heat of the discharge muffler 39 is avoided from being directly transmitted to the cylinder block 29.

Additionally, the heat of the cylinder head 30 and the discharge muffler 39 provided to the cylinder head 30 is transmitted to the oil through the heat radiating fins 36 formed on the cylinder head 30, and the heat transmitted to the oil is transmitted to the outside of the compressor 20 through the closed container 24. Thus, the heat of the refrigerant passing through the cylinder head 30 and the discharge muffler 39 provided to the cylinder head 30 is prevented from being transmitted to the compressing chamber 29 a formed in the cylinder block 29.

As is apparent from the above description, the compressor consistent with the present invention prevents the heat of the refrigerant passing through the discharging chamber from being transmitted to the compressing chamber, thereby preventing a reduction of efficiency of the compressor.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this exemplary embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A compressor, comprising: a discharge chamber to contain temporarily a refrigerant compressed in a compressing chamber; and a heat-radiating member to radiate heat from the discharge chamber to the outside.
 2. The compressor according to claim 1, wherein the heat-radiating member has one end submerged to oil flowing in the compressor.
 3. The compressor according to claim 1, wherein the heat-radiating member comprises at least one heat-radiating fin made of a metallic material.
 4. The compressor according to claim 1, further comprising: a cylinder block; a piston received in the cylinder block and having the compressing chamber defined in a space between the cylinder block and the piston; and a cylinder head disposed on the cylinder block and including the discharge chamber.
 5. The compressor according to claim 4, wherein the cylinder head is made of aluminum.
 6. The compressor according to claim 4, wherein the heat-radiating member is provided to the cylinder head.
 7. The compressor according to claim 4, wherein the cylinder head is provided with a discharge muffler to prevent noise from the compressing chamber from being transmitted to the outside.
 8. The compressor according to claim 7, wherein the discharge muffler may be formed therein with a fluid pathway communicated with the discharge chamber via a refrigerant pathway.
 9. The compressor according to claim 7, wherein the discharge muffler is spaced a predetermined distance from the cylinder block.
 10. The compressor according to claim 7, wherein the cylinder head and the discharge muffler are integrally formed.
 11. A compressor, comprising: a cylinder block including a compressing chamber; a cylinder head disposed on the cylinder block and including a discharge chamber which communicates with the compressing chamber; and a discharge muffler provided to the cylinder head and which communicates with the discharge chamber, the discharge muffler being spaced apart from the cylinder block, such that heat of the discharge muffler is not directly transmitted to the cylinder block. 